Turn your TV into art

Home Base

January 13, 2008

Flat-screen televisions are cool -- when they are turned on. When not in use, they can disrupt the decorating scheme, unless a plain TV screen is your idea of art.

VisionArt is a custom-made television concealment system that allows you to turn plasma, LCD televisions and electronics into framed art. Once the artwork and frame are mounted on your wall, you can turn on your television with its remote, and a motor pulls the artwork upward, rolling it out of sight and displaying your screen. When you turn off the television, the print descends to hide the television again.

VisionArt's art collection includes limited-and unlimited-edition prints and frames that can be customized to fit any size TV. Customers also can supply the company with original artwork and photography, which can be reproduced. An interactive gallery of available products is available on the site.

Beginning at 11 a.m. today, Megan Clifton and Stirling Sotheby's International Realty is hosting This Week in Real Estate, a weekly half-hour television program.

Produced by Oregon-based Lush Productions, the show will air on WRDQ-Channel 27 (Brighthouse Channel 10) Sundays for the next 52 weeks.

Each weekly broadcast will feature four segments that range from interior design to chefs preparing food in major restaurants.

Luxury homes and communities in Central Florida and around the world also will be showcased along with real estate news and information for buyers and sellers.

The show's episodes will be available for viewing on the Stirling Sotheby's Web site, stirlingsir.com.

On the Web

Just when you thought you had selected the right lighting for your bedroom, your spouse tells you it's too bright. And after all the trouble you went through to dim the lighting in the bathroom, your spouse thinks it looks like a cave.

From now until March, you can find home-improvement ideas on the GE lighting Web site, gelighting.com.

By clicking on the "Design With Light" link, you can find tips about layers, colors and quality of lighting.

The section also features weekend lighting projects and has video segments, step-by-step instructions and shopping lists that can be downloaded for each lesson.

How-to lessons include: adding track lighting to a hallway or entryway turned family art gallery; using lighting to bring out colors and textures on painted walls; using lighting in the laundry room to turn it into a multifunctional space; creating a welcoming bedroom by layering it with light; and creating visual separation between the cooking and socializing areas in a kitchen by using lighting.

Book report

The right combination of color, texture and paint can work wonders on your walls. It can turn an ordinary, plain wall into a canvas with visual effects and patterns.

With projects by professional interior designers and architects, and more than 180 color photos illustrating the text, the guide shows readers how to create tonal effects, faux appearances, patterns and textural looks.

Other techniques covered include mottling, color washing and stenciling. In addition to photos and instructions for each technique, effects such as layering or changing the palette show readers how to personalize different schemes.